The problem is that the medical center's offices have sat empty since May. That's when Geisinger Health System relocated its staff to Mount Pocono, as part of consolidation efforts.

"Some of our older residents don't like having to drive to Mount Pocono or farther away to go to the doctor," said Tattersall Medical Center board President Greg Batzel. "They don't like having to brave all that Route 611 traffic. They prefer a less busy, more quiet road like Route 390. That's why this is a good location. But, if we don't get some doctors in here soon, then this won't be here much longer as a medical facility."

The idea for the center originated in the early 1970s, when Harold Tattersall was a well-known, respected doctor who had been serving Barrett Township and neighboring areas for decades.

"This was in the days when many doctors made house calls and worked independently of health networks," Batzel said.

Some residents at the time decided it would be good to have a small, nonprofit community medical facility with family doctors in a central, easily accessible location, said Batzel.

After a property owner donated the land now occupied by the medical center, community volunteers specializing in electrical and plumbing work, carpentry and stone masonry built the facility, completing construction in 1975.

"Dr. Tattersall was very humble and didn't like the idea of anything being named after him," said former patient Woody Johnson of Barrett Township.

Tattersall and other doctors had offices in the medical center during its early years, but later went their separate ways. Tattersall then worked out of his home, dying at age 78 in 1992, Johnson said.

By the 1980s, doctors at the medical center had become overworked, more government-regulated and overburdened with the inflated expenses of running their practices, Batzel said. In light of local population growth and changes in medical care standards, the center was now too small and ill-equipped to provide emergency medical care, though it could still provide family medicinal and urgent care when needed.

The center's board contacted several hospitals, organizations and private individuals, none of whom were willing or able to help keep the center going, Batzel said. The board then turned to Pocono Medical Center, which at the time was looking to expand its services farther into the community and expressed interest in negotiating a lease with Tattersall Medical Center.

Objecting local residents said Tattersall, which had been built by community volunteers and staffed with local doctors the community knew and respected, should not be turned over to an unfamiliar entity that might care more about business than about patients, Batzel said.

"The intent of the Board of Directors, as expressed to physicians currently practicing at the center, was to negotiate in earnest with (PMC) in an attempt to obtain reasonably priced quality medical care within our community and to ensure that this medical care would be available for years to come," states a notice the center's board published in the May, 28, 1988, Pocono Record issue.

Over many residents' objections, PMC leased Tattersall from 1988 to 1997, when PMC for unknown reasons chose not to renew the lease. Geisinger Health System then leased Tattersall from 1997 until this past May.

"Most recently, we had two doctors there," said Geisinger spokesman Matt Van Stone. "One doctor left our health system. After unsuccessful recruitment efforts for support staff for our other doctor, the decision was made to relocate her nine miles away to our Mount Pocono facility, which offers specialty physician outreach, an onsite pharmacy and other services in a better location."

Geisinger has not commented on whether it would consider assigning any new doctors to Tattersall. The Pocono Record unsuccessfully tried contacting Pocono Health System, which includes PMC, to ask if it would consider doing the same.

"So, we're now sitting here with empty offices," Batzel said. "We need doctors in here again. We've reached out to the medical community in and beyond Monroe County to see if anyone would be interested, but haven't had any luck so far. A doctor would do very well here. They'd be booked solid within two weeks of moving in. We'd just need to get some medical supplies like syringes, but patient tables and everything else are already set up solely for medical use."

The well-maintained, handicap-accessible facility has a reception/waiting area with cable TV, two doctors' offices, five exam rooms, a pediatrics room, a lab room, an employee lunch room, an elevator and paved off-street parking. And it sits on a road which, though less busy than other main routes in the county, is still well-traveled enough to bring in a good patient base, Batzel said.

The facility currently rents downstairs space to a dental office, but that office is totally separate from the medical center.

"It's disappointing that we can't find any new medical people to staff those offices," said nurse Viola Seese of Barrett Township, who worked for one of Tattersall's colleagues at the facility and later was a patient there herself. "That leaves the option of going to Mount Pocono, Stroudsburg or East Stroudsburg."

Batzel suspects doctors nowadays fear making less money and being more vulnerable to medical malpractice lawsuits if working independently at such a facility, as opposed to being part of a health network.

"The mentality of the medical field has changed," he said. "It's now more about treating patients as quotas to be met rather than as people. That kind of mentality makes it harder for us to find professionals who are going to come and work with people who remember when doctors genuinely cared about patients."

Any medical professionals interested in learning more about the Tattersall Medical Center or occupying an office there can contact Batzel at 570-595-6446 or 570-350-3840.